Jaydn Asay returns for his senior year to help guide the fortunes of the defending state champion Mountain View Bruins. Photo by Alan Versaw.
Last fall, Herriman busted out of the gates with an energy that suggested they would storm through the 4A ranks. By the end of the season, however, it was familiar cardinal and gold of Mountain View at the top of the pile on October 19. Mountain View has a long history of excellence in the running sports and is simply one of those schools you can never count out.
There are, however, a few changes in the overall order of things if we take out the seniors from last year's state meet::
1 Jacob Heslington Timpanogos HS 15:39.50 1
2 Conner Mantz Sky View HS 15:40.00 2
3 Jerrell Mock Logan HS 15:40.30 --
4 Adam Hendrickson Box Elder HS 16:05.00 3
6 Alex Brown Mountain View HS 16:09.40 5
8 Isaac Faux Maple Mountain HS 16:15.00 7
10 Chuk Mitchell Herriman HS 16:15.50 9
11 Jaydn Asay Mountain View HS 16:15.80 10
12 Abe Weeks Bonneville HS 16:16.40 11
13 Kyle Bunker Orem HS 16:16.90 12
17 Marcus Lindmeir Bountiful HS 16:22.00 15
18 Austin Birrell Orem HS 16:22.20 16
19 Colby Myers Bonneville HS 16:24.10 17
20 Gordon King Mountain View HS 16:25.60 18
21 Connor Jones Herriman HS 16:28.30 19
22 Cade Perry Bonneville HS 16:29.30 20
23 Andy Penman Bonneville HS 16:31.40 21
24 Kohle Perkes Bountiful HS 16:33.00 22
25 Dylan Compton Sky View HS 16:34.00 23
29 Steven Scott Sky View HS 16:39.50 27
30 Gabe Adams Provo HS 16:39.70 --
31 Braden Bronson Herriman HS 16:40.70 28
32 Trevor Patten Mountain View HS 16:43.70 29
33 Nick Batty Sky View HS 16:45.60 30
34 Taylor Dillon Woods Cross HS 16:47.90 31
35 Jesse Drury Herriman HS 16:52.30 32
36 Steele Rasmussen Maple Mountain HS 16:54.30 33
39 Rory Linkletter Herriman HS 16:56.30 36
40 Paxton Patey Maple Mountain HS 16:57.10 37
42 McKay Sharp Herriman HS 16:58.40 38
43 Kason Kendall Bountiful HS 16:59.90 39
44 Cody Dangerfield Clearfield HS 17:00.70 40
45 Jack Evans Skyline HS 17:01.20 41
46 Levi Stone Salem Hills HS 17:01.70 42
47 Sean O'very Mountain Crest HS 17:02.60 43
48 Sam Sorensen Mountain View HS 17:03.40 44
49 Tanner Lewis Mountain Crest HS 17:04.00 45
50 Zach Warner Mountain Crest HS 17:05.40 46
Curiously, several top distance runners from the 4A ranks were absent from the state meet last fall. Doubtless, injuries played a role in that.
Whatever the case might be with that, Mountain View doesn't figure to be in a hurting way next fall. Unless I've missed a graduation somewhere down the list, Mountain View returns five guys who ran faster than 17:05 or faster at last fall's state meet. Herriman, Bonneville, and Sky View also bring back some serious firepower. So, the cast of cotending teams doesn't figure to be greatly changed for this fall.
Mountain View's position of strength is further amplified in the rankings of returning 3200 runners from this spring.
Led by Jaydn Asay's 9:35 and Gordon King's 9:36, Mountain View figures to be very strong up front. But then, so does Herriman. Chuk Mitchell ran 9:32 this spring and Rory Linkletter 9:37. Mountain View's Alex Brown and Herriman's Jesse Jorgensen could make another nicely matched pair at #3. And so it goes.
If Herriman can find a way to better balance their early and late season success than they found last fall, this one has a lot of promise as a very competitive team race this fall. Bonneville is by no means out of it, but does seem to be just a step behind the other two as of the third weekend of May. Nothing that a good summer of training couldn't change, however.
Maple Mountain boasts a formidable 1-2 in Isaac Faux and Paxton Patey, but these two will need a lot of support to make a serious run at the title.
Rising sophomore Conner Mantz get some serious consideration as the individual favorite. Jake Heslington and Jerrell Mock will have some say in that as well, but, on the whole, you expect more progression out of a rising sophomore than out of rising seniors. We'll see if the general rules hold true in this particular case. Any way it shakes out, this one figures to be one of the fastest 4A boys fields in a long time.